Health Maintenance Behavior And The Incidence Of Illnesses In Families Living In Rural And Urban Areas Of Pekanbaru

Abstract

Health maintenance behavior in the family will contribute to public health because the family is a part or subsystem of society. One factor that influences the health maintenance behavior is environmental factor whereas the characteristics of different residential areas will give an impact on the health behavior of the family. This study aims to identify the health maintenance behavior and incidence of illnesses in families living in urban and rural areas of Pekanbaru. This research uses descriptive design involving 600 families, 300 families residing in the urban area and 300 families residing in rural areas of Pekanbaru. Samples were taken using quota sampling technique. Researchers collected data bay using questionnaires. The results shows he health maintenance behavior are mostly performed by the family residing in rural areas compared to urban Pekanbaru, except in the habit of doing physical activity with percentages of urban and rural are 58.7% and 28.4%. Comparison of the percentage of families who do not smoke at home in the rural and urban areas is 72.1% and 42.7%. Comparison of the percentage of families in rural and urban areas for children immunization, nutritious foods consumption and regular health examination are 64% and 59%; 92.8% and 65%; 85.8% and 78.3%. Health maintenance behavior in the family is linear with the incidence of illnesses in the family whereas the incidence of illnesses in urban households is higher than the percentage of rural households with 76.7% and 50.5%. Based on the results, it is recommended to community nurses to make efforts to promote family health maintenance behavior, especially on aspects that require improvement through health education activities in order to increase the motivation of the family in maintaining good health.